


try a little harder

by orphan_account



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/F, Rule 63, here's an old thing, i feel guilty abt the lack of fic, on my part recently so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-01
Updated: 2014-11-01
Packaged: 2018-02-23 11:12:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2545448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Kageyama smiles, Hinata feels a little like there’s a colossal foot hanging right above her head, ready to crush and grind her into the court like an ant. It’s as if Kageyama’s mouth has forgotten one of its most vital purposes, or grown up without it, maybe, Hinata thinks, sipping from her water-bottle and fidgeting uncomfortably in Kageyama’s awkward silence.</p>
            </blockquote>





	try a little harder

When Kageyama smiles, Hinata feels a little like there’s a colossal foot hanging right above her head, ready to crush and grind her into the court like an ant. It’s as if Kageyama’s mouth has forgotten one of its most vital purposes, or grown up without it, maybe, Hinata thinks, sipping from her water-bottle and fidgeting uncomfortably in Kageyama’s awkward silence. Alone-time with Kageyama’s like sitting in an airtight bubble and she’s always looking for a needle to pop it, just can’t find it in the haystack, but she’ll keep looking.

Tsukishima’s mocking _queen of the court_ and turnip-head’s balled fists remind her that Kageyama’s smile is a product of personality _and_ trial, which Hinata tries to remember when Kageyama’s bangs fall into eyes that glitter dark and storming. She’ll cower, waiting for a blow that’s become strangely softer through the months, and peek up at a Kageyama who’s silently forming words, nose scrunched, like she’s trying to say something she’s only ever seen written.

…

“Here, Kageyama,” Suga says, and raises her hands up to her face. She pokes short fingers into the soft round of her own cheeks and smiles, smooth and true and all at once beautiful. The light slanting through the gym’s windows catches her braid in creamy-white and Hinata grins, too. “Like this.”

It’s obvious that Kageyama tries, but Hinata still shrinks into herself as Kageyama’s lips peel back from clenched teeth. The same light that folds so wonderfully around Sugawara falls unflatteringly onto Kageyama, water over crayon that leaves shadows beneath her eyes and the stiff rise of her cheeks and makes Hinata wildly wonder if she’s been transported into a slasher.

“Almost,” Suga consoles, but she’s rubbing the back of her neck. Hinata watches Kageyama tug uneasily at the end of her ponytail and tries to calm her rabbit heartbeat. “Try to be natural.”

When Hinata leaves for the night, Kageyama’s still staring into the clubroom’s mirror, brush caught halfway through her long hair. Her eyes look lost in an invisible middle-distance Hinata kind of wishes she could drag her out of and the _goodnight_ she calls is kinder than days before.

…

“You shouldn’t feel bad about it,” Hinata says while readjusting her kneepads. Beside her, Kageyama’s sulking on the bench after adding a smile to a _thank you_ for Yachi, who had amiably passed her a towel. His wide-eyes and trembling hands had been mostly funny to Hinata, but Kageyama’s silent mulling pokes cruelly at her conscious. She can’t _leave_ her like that.

“About what?” Kageyama mutters, and crosses her arms. Hinata rolls her eyes.

“Your smile.”

“I don’t feel _bad_ —“

“I’ve seen your real one,” Hinata says, cutting her off because she _knows_ where that was heading. “It’s pretty.” And she has, plenty of times, though they were all fleeting and in the middle of something bigger—a game, a team-run to the foothill convenience store, an after-tournament dinner.

( _Hinata’s thought about it a lot, too, in that quiet lull right before sleep. She wants to see it again, wishes Kageyama could see it for herself._ )

Kageyama blinks, opens her mouth, and looks away. The red crawling up her neck boosts Hinata’s confidence tenfold and flips her heart over in her chest a little, too.

“So, don’t feel bad about it,” she repeats, then slaps Kageyama’s arm. She grins in just the way Kageyama hates. “Kageyama-chan~”

She resents the hair-pulling that comes afterwards but decides, still wincing from the pain, that she’ll never regret the words—or the small smile she catches as Kageyama turns away.

…

 

**Author's Note:**

> girlsgirlsgirlsgirls


End file.
